tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951Tue, 12 Apr 2016 03:51:21 +0000CanadiensKoivuHuetHigginsKomisarekLatendresseSamsonovSourayKovalevRyderAebischerBonkLovePlekanecCollective Mood DisorderFansHalakJohnsonMarkovSenatorsCrosbyLapierreRivetTeamsCarbonneauLosingMediaStreitBouillonSabresViolenceChildrenHockey BlogistanPenguinsPerezhoginPersonalRDSTheoryBeautyCapitalsCommentaryPenaltiesCanadaDandenaultDevilsGods of HockeyKostitsynLoyaltyMaple LeafsNiinimaaTradingWinningBruinsCakeFightingFlyersLightningOvechkinPainThrashersBeginChaosGaineyHurricanesIslandersMurrayPanthersRangersSharksTorresWildArenasEgyptian CurseFleuryGorgesHarmonyLaichMalkinMillerMilroyPoetryReligionRivalryRulesStoriesTSNTaoUnited StatesVampirismWilliamsAvalancheBoredomBriereBrodeurCharaClichesCultureDecapitationDiPietroDowneyDucksEmeryEthicsFamilyGoaliesGrabovskiGratitudeGrenade LauncherHistoryInjuriesIntangiblesIntimidationJagrLeightonLetter OpenerLocker RoomsMiraclesNeilNew NHLOilersProngerQuizRed WingsShanahanSkillSmythSpezzaStadiaTexasTuckerAcceptanceAdvertisingAlfredssonAll-Star BreakAllenAmbivalenceAngry FishArmstrongBelfourBismarckBlakeBlue JacketsBuddhismBureaucracyCBCCanucksCelebrityChurrosClarkCodeColeConsistencyCoping StrategiesCyborgsDeathDepressionDesertDisciplineDramaDrinkingDrydenEconomicsEffortErgEthan Moreau PrincipleFaithFlamesFloridaForsbergFreedomFunGreat Goaltending SpiritHugsHuxleyIce CreamJanikJusticeKaberleKarmaKesselKeywordsKierkegaardKiprusoffKleenexLavioletteLemurMcCabeMojoMontrealNamesNashNasreddinePeer PressurePhaneufPotentialPredatorsPrussiaRaycroftReal LifeRolosonSacrificeSalvationScandalsSeminSexSex SlaverySillinessStaal-cheStrippersSuckageSundinSwitzerlandTalbotTheodoreThomasTimeTwangTwilight ZoneUzbekistanVideo GamesVlasicVodkaWardWinchester Mystery HouseZombiesA Theory of IceRegular posting now moved to Backhand Shelf: http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (E)Blogger341125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-291225089481055680Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:24:00 +00002012-07-16T23:19:58.758-04:00The Great Historical Games Project List
Below is the master list of games I'll be watching for my annual off-season research project. For now, it's more aspirational than actual, as there's no guarantee I'll be able to find all these matches or have the time to watch all of them. Please, if you've stumbled by, do suggest additions, subtractions, or adjustments. My only requirement for a game to be added to the list is that it meanhttp://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/06/great-historical-games-project-list.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-4753082567047063744Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:29:00 +00002012-02-22T20:45:38.945-05:00Added ValueThe fourth line is the most chronically unloved part of a hockey team. Its players generally play single-digit minutes, mostly against each other, a low-stakes, forty-second game of don’t-fuck-up-too-bad. They are little more than embodied breaktimes for their more talented teammates and count themselves lucky to be such, for the specter of being nothing at all is never far away. When the teamhttp://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/02/added-value.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-2897061048981436055Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:42:00 +00002012-01-31T22:54:21.041-05:00Another CountryThe following is highly autobiographical and rather self-indulgent. Those interested in the destination rather than the journey are advised to skip to the last two paragraphs.This blog is the second most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my life. When I started it I was a 24-year-old graduate student in Islamic Studies and I knew nothing about hockey. I didn’t know checking from charging, a http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/01/another-country.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-5020596256678659502Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:11:00 +00002012-01-15T15:58:43.894-05:00Defending Byzantium“Decline of the Habs Empire” isn’t a title so much as a genre designation. It would be like calling an article about the Leafs “Forty Years of Frustration”, or publishing a Canucks essay entitled “Successful but Still Not Likeable.” Excepting that of the Romans themselves, few tales of decline have been retold as often as that of the Habs. Mordechai Richler wrote on the theme; so did Ken Drydenhttp://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/01/defending-byzantium.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-9208703691828710184Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:01:00 +00002012-01-12T00:20:51.788-05:00A Woman's Place is in the Corners“Hockey isn’t about skating from here to there…,” she lifts her stick and waves it vaguely at the far end of the rink. “… it’s about skating from here to there.” She points to the near boards. “Three strides. There’s never more than three strides between you and any puck you need to get to.” She demonstrates. The instructor has a most enviable three strides: low, wide-legged, quick and http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/01/womans-place-is-in-corners.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-4936901554440145622Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:58:00 +00002012-01-07T17:44:53.254-05:00Hunger GamesThey are a series of books for teenagers, and although they sound much like many other series of books for teenagers of the dystopian sci-fi variety, I am assured that they are exceptionally well-written and worthy of my time. Unfortunately, I will never read them, because they suffer from the one great failing of all YA lit, that is, the assumption that teenagers are as interesting to everyone http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2012/01/hunger-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-4032884934031875096Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:42:00 +00002011-12-29T01:28:00.692-05:00LoveloveloveIt’s good to be right, but it’s better to be in love.November 2006I do not remember so much about my first hockey game. It was the season of ice storms, cold and snowless. I remember the bright red whirl of the crowd against the grey streets. I remember the darkness in the upper tiers, and the people in front of me who told us to sit down during the American anthem, and the dead silence of thehttp://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/lovelovelove.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-7537054752895832712Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:36:00 +00002011-12-19T15:36:40.409-05:00Elsewhere...
If you're interested, today's post for today is being very kindly hosted over at Backhand Shelf.
I'll have new content up on this site tonight or early tomorrow, insha'allah.http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/elsewhere.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-1105232990249484166Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:02:00 +00002011-12-16T14:10:39.009-05:00Shang Zhou Shoulda Dropped the Gloves[Forgive me if I’ve done this one before.]There is an old joke that says every Arabic word has four meanings: the first is the common usage, the second is the exact opposite of the first, the third is something pertaining to a horse, and the fourth is so unspeakably vulgar that no one will tell you what it is. English word-formation is a cruder than Arabic, so we don’t have quite the same http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/shang-zhou-shoulda-dropped-gloves.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-2381537164525197584Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:11:00 +00002011-12-14T20:56:14.120-05:00Sixth Defenseman Shuffle[Further to the post Get There From Here, The Theory will be doing an irregular series on methods of general management. The goal of these pieces is not to focus on the specific details of individual moves and decisions, but rather to use specific cases as a jumping-off point for the analysis of the principles and values by which managers operate. Eventually, we would like to get to the http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/sixth-defenseman-shuffle.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-2542279032083303075Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:24:00 +00002011-12-11T22:40:55.680-05:00On NarrativeThe PrologueWhen hockey comes into your life, there are other things that come along with it. These complementary customs and rituals vary from place to place depending on regional culture, but everywhere has them, and they tend to involve beer.In Taipei, the ritual was the 7-11. Taipei arena had no dressing rooms and no showers, so there was no question of anyone hauling their sweaty, stinky http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-narrative.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-6531125356310581654Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:09:00 +00002011-12-05T15:16:36.931-05:00Swift JudgmentsYou want concision? Oh, you’ll get concision. I had a most interesting and informative discussion with Berkshire from EOTP today about quarter-season player evaluations. He’s working on a massive, detailed review of every player, because EOTP is a high-class site and that’s how they roll (will insert a link in this sentence as soon as it’s up). But down here in the internet trailer park that http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/swift-judgments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-5309590161275863149Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:11:00 +00002011-12-03T16:09:33.212-05:00TrickJust get it on net.“You need to start from further back. Behind your skate.”“No, I just need to get it on net.”“You’d get more power that way.”“But I wouldn’t get it on net.”He sighs. We’ve had this argument before. We always have this argument when we go out to practice. He wants me to do it right. I want to do it however I can actually do it. We’d go around and around and around until he http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/12/trick.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-1910653284620625525Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +00002011-12-01T17:26:06.851-05:00Ask the Theory: Talking to LosersOn the Blogger dashboard, all the way to the right, there’s a stats tab, and under the stats tab are more tabs, including one that lets me see the most common search terms that have led visitors to this site. Now, most of the people who get to my blog via Google are searching for the title or some garbled variation thereon, so probably they know what they’re in for. But there are also a lot of http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/ask-theory-talking-to-losers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-1488098663964427393Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:48:00 +00002011-11-29T22:49:22.020-05:00Discipline...Where the NHL is concerned, I’m pro-violence. I didn’t come to this stance easily and I don’t take it lightly, and I’d let it go if a strong majority of players come to the point where they don’t want it anymore, but so long as them-who-play find it meaningful and worthwhile for them, I think it makes the game better. More strategically interesting, more viscerally engaging, more socially http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/discipline.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-2908332424111172636Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:24:00 +00002011-11-28T19:08:20.879-05:00Get There From HereIt is generally bad form to try to talk people out of their team loyalties. Not that loyalty should never be questioned, but a fan’s feelings for their team are personal, complicated things that often have their basis in childhood dreams and family relationships and other such areas that outsiders oughtn’t muck about in. Asking someone to give up their team is like asking them to put aside http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/get-there-from-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-2069076622350402490Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:44:00 +00002011-11-23T13:06:36.626-05:00On SeeingThere are only two major ways of experiencing hockey: playing and seeing. Once upon a time and many years ago, there was hearing, but radio has largely fallen out of favor now, and the only person I’ve ever heard of who primarily listened to hockey was a blind AHL fanatic who could follow the games in the arena by the clacks and thumps alone. Sighted people in the modern era, however, pretty http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-seeing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-8048577019416457312Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:07:00 +00002011-11-22T01:09:14.897-05:00HurtI wake up with a long ache in my limbs. It’s a vague ache, the sort of ache that has no particular point to make. It’s not punishing me for some previous injury nor warning of any future infection. In fact, although it is a kind of pain, it is not entirely unpleasant- it carries with it a bit of an electric tingle, ever so slight, a residual static charge in the motor neurons. It diffuses http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/hurt.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-3207471860778832594Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:58:00 +00002011-11-21T14:33:16.629-05:00The Opposite of Adults[Note: The Q(ual)C(omp)R(ank) column shows the position on the qualcomp list the player occupies on his own team. So 1 means the guy faces the hardest competition on his team, 17 (generally) the easiest competition. I limited everything to players with at least ten games on the season.]Charts are beautiful things: so reasonable, so tidy, with all their neat straight lines and regularly http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/opposite-of-adults.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-7020158928725488703Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:22:00 +00002011-11-21T01:47:30.976-05:00List: Three Ridiculous, Boring Coaching Ploys Better than Laviolette’sRecently, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was able to stir up a bit of extra notoriety for his team with a creative scrap of hockey theatrics. Surely you’ve seen the clip by now: frustrated with the Lightning’s deployment of a 1-3-1 defensive posture early in the game, Laviolette instructed his team to simply refuse to carry the puck out of their zone, resulting in about 20 seconds of dead time http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/list-three-ridiculous-boring-coaching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-720835675990713999Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:11:00 +00002011-11-14T00:17:45.791-05:00Bad HabitsOne of the things I enjoy about living in Canada is the frequency with which one just stumbles across hockey-things in ordinary life. For example, this morning (by which I mean early afternoon, since I am seldom conscious during the real morning on a Sunday), I am eating my Cheerios and flipping channels and there’s Georges Laraque, just hanging out on TV.It only takes a second to realize he is http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/bad-habits.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-8158938135358690547Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:36:00 +00002011-11-11T14:41:44.904-05:00Sigh...Fun fact: I hate cameras.http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/sigh.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-4971488234659080987Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:14:00 +00002011-11-09T23:31:55.211-05:00It's Our Limitations that Make Us Who We AreWith apologies to The Mendoza Line, and the fans of 29 teams who will be angry with me after the last paragraph.The Copper & Blue took the first Habs-Oilers game of the season as an occasion to post a little article on the role of language in the Canadiens hiring policies. The title of the piece- “The Canadiens are Limiting Possibilities with Language Requirements”- is a fact, insofar as any http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/its-our-limitations-that-make-us-who-we.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-1104584595864981209Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:59:00 +00002011-11-08T00:05:34.135-05:00A Humble Game PreviewBecause every now and then we all need a little narrative.Ladies and Gentlemen, there are many dull Tuesdays in a season. In fact, if I may speak freely, I would say that the games of Tuesday are often the dullest games of the week. Despite the valiant efforts of our friends at Reseau des sports to pump us up for the Tuesday game, we often find ourselves nodding off a bit during the commercialshttp://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/humble-game-preview.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36795951.post-1428620913050060096Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:59:00 +00002011-11-07T01:29:59.760-05:00Hockey Ephemera: Cairo, 2009Sometimes, I thought that half the things in Cairo were lost, and half the people looking for them. The city feels huge beyond measurement or organization, a great agglomeration of buildings shoving each other against the banks of the Nile. They are immense, yes, skyscrapers in stature but not demeanor. The big buildings of Cairo are all faded brown and weary-looking, like thirsty travelers http://theoryofice.blogspot.com/2011/11/hockey-ephemera-cairo-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (E)3